Ill-trained, ill-equipped force stumbles along

Many Filipinos have little trust in their police, and Monday's crisis has done little to improve matters.

Rommel Banlaoi, head of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research, said: 'Our police and security forces really need to undergo training in order to prepare for terrorist attacks, kidnappings and other situations.'

But there are other problems. According to the Philippine National Police (PNP) itself, 57 per cent of its 118,000 personnel are 'in dire need of decent shelter'. It says 60 per cent of policemen from private first class to sergeant 'actually live below the poverty line.'

PNP figures show that 92 per cent of the annual budget goes to salaries and allowances, leaving only a small amount for maintenance and operating expenses. The PNP has less than half the vehicles it needs.

Banlaoi said 80 per cent of the country's police stations were squatting on property they did not own and that 65 per cent of those stations did not have motor vehicles.

He said the force needed 25,289 handheld radios but had only 2,416.

The country's police have featured frequently in reports of shootings, torture and corruption. A group of senior officers who visited Russia in 2008 are facing graft charges after Russian customs officials detained one of them for carrying a large sum of euros. Government investigators said the trip was unauthorised.